I'm new and need additional information

BoredPotato

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(baby tort of around 6 months old - born late august) So, I got my tort earlier than I expected, not that it really matters. So tomorrow I will feed it myself so I want to ask for tips and clear some doubts.

So, I got this information from someone and he said that giving your tort varieties is overtime like giving him for today kale for example and the following days the same until you are done with the kale pack then give it something different and repeat. But then again I saw and read that a lot of people give it varieties in one meal - first doubt (What is the best and is the advice of that someone harmful?)

I read that grass is okay to give to your tort (Testudo Hermanni boetgerri) but just like the normal grass you see in your yard and roads? Those grass? - second doubt (If this is true then I can give it to my tort everyday)

Also, is NON-biological food SAFE for the tort to eat? Though I know biological food is so much better, but is it safe for them to eat? - third doubt.

Supplements, I have crushed cuttlebone (Idk why) - okay to give?, I also have calcium powder that includes D3, do I need something else as in vitamin or smth? (I do have a cuttlebone in the enclosure)

Last thing, if you need to feed the tort in a lot of varieties each day, how do you manage if theres no weeds for them to eat? I mean, you can buy a lot of greens from the store but they at most last a week and if you need to buy a lot it will cost a huge amount of money each time. So, how do you guys do it?

Ty in advance - it's also quite late so I am sorry if I don't reply
 

Yossarian

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First things first - The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise | Tortoise Forum - This is the care sheet to follow.

1. There is no need to provided a varied diet at every meal, they just need to consume a varied diet over time. However, I normally feed mine a few different things every day, I would consider it enrichment more than a requirement for health.

2. Testudos for the most part afaik are not big grass eaters. Mine certainly doesnt eat it.

3. Not sure what you mean by non-biological food.

4. For supplements, if you have a calcium and d3 poweder combined, a small pinch 2-3 times a week is plenty.

5. Cuttlefish supplements calcium, some torts like it some dont, try breaking it up for them.

6. There are a handful of different things you can buy from the grocery store on a weekly basis if needed. Look for things like lambs lettuce, arugula, kale, bok choy, watercress, etc. . .
 

BoredPotato

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First things first - The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise | Tortoise Forum - This is the care sheet to follow.

1. There is no need to provided a varied diet at every meal, they just need to consume a varied diet over time. However, I normally feed mine a few different things every day, I would consider it enrichment more than a requirement for health.

2. Testudos for the most part afaik are not big grass eaters. Mine certainly doesnt eat it.

3. Not sure what you mean by non-biological food.

4. For supplements, if you have a calcium and d3 poweder combined, a small pinch 2-3 times a week is plenty.

5. Cuttlefish supplements calcium, some torts like it some dont, try breaking it up for them.

6. There are a handful of different things you can buy from the grocery store on a weekly basis if needed. Look for things like lambs lettuce, arugula, kale, bok choy, watercress, etc. . .

Wirh non biological food I mean just the normal ones in grocery stores, for example, tomatoes and biological tomatoes, the former is non biological.

So I can feed my tort grass? But its just depends if he wants to eat it or not.

Anyway, thank you for clearing my doubts
 

Yossarian

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Wirh non biological food I mean just the normal ones in grocery stores, for example, tomatoes and biological tomatoes, the former is non biological.

So I can feed my tort grass? But its just depends if he wants to eat it or not.

Anyway, thank you for clearing my doubts

ahhh, I think you must be using “biological” when you mean organic. All living things are biological. There is no need to stick to organic foods as long as they are fit for human consumption. Picking weeds and things though yourself, you need to be careful about fertilisers and pesticides.
 

Chris.clive

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Hi . I have 2 Hermann babies, I give them any lettuce but not iceberg lettuce, as I have been told it’s no good for them. I don’t know why. They also have cuecumber , strawberries, grapes and tomatoes (cut up, and I take the skin on the cuecumber, grapes and tomatoes) they also have cress. I give them a bit of a mixture every day.
 

BoredPotato

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ahhh, I think you must be using “biological” when you mean organic. All living things are biological. There is no need to stick to organic foods as long as they are fit for human consumption. Picking weeds and things though yourself, you need to be careful about fertilisers and pesticides.

Ah sorry, in my country they use biological, sorry, I forgot
 

KarenSoCal

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Hi . I have 2 Hermann babies, I give them any lettuce but not iceberg lettuce, as I have been told it’s no good for them. I don’t know why. They also have cuecumber , strawberries, grapes and tomatoes (cut up, and I take the skin on the cuecumber, grapes and tomatoes) they also have cress. I give them a bit of a mixture every day.

We don't want to hijack BoredPotato's thread, but I don't think Hermann's are supposed to have fruit at all. We need to clarify this for both of you.
 

BoredPotato

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We don't want to hijack BoredPotato's thread, but I don't think Hermann's are supposed to have fruit at all. We need to clarify this for both of you.

I know that, I give mine endive and watercress/lamb's lettuce/corn salad (How you want to call it), I guess I just stick to endive as main staple and I just change the side dish like watercress every week. Ofc once the weeds are grown I will give them those. (I see some weeds but they are very small and not grown at all so I figured that I can feed my hermanni weeds after 2 or 3 weeks.)
 

KarenSoCal

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Last thing, if you need to feed the tort in a lot of varieties each day, how do you manage if theres no weeds for them to eat? I mean, you can buy a lot of greens from the store but they at most last a week and if you need to buy a lot it will cost a huge amount of money each time. So, how do you guys do it?

When I grocery store shop I buy 5 or 6 different items. Assuming the store has everything, I always buy endive/escarole and radicchio. These are the 2 staples Sulafat eats every day. The other items are combinations of the following...I buy different ones each time. I use mustard greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, watercress, cilantro, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, spring mix occasionally, wheat grass, lamb's lettuce, some romaine in the summer to help hydration...that's all I can think of right now.

Each day I give him some endive/escarole and some radicchio. I add 2 of the other items I bought. Then I give a liberal sprinkling of an amendment or two from Kapidolo Farms, along with calcium, vitamins, or MinerAll on the proper days. About every 2 or 3 days I add a mushy Mazuri pellet or two.
The next day I give 2 or 3 of the other items I bought.

I do it like this because torts can easily become very picky eaters. If I feed his favorites every day for several days or a week, when I offer something else he might turn up his nose at it, and refuse to eat it. I want him to get as many different items as possible.

I also don't want to feed certain foods for an extended stretch because they may have traits that aren't good. For instance, people say no spinach. They say this because it can interfere with calcium use and contribute to kidney stones. So I feed a couple spinach leaves one day, then skip several days before giving him a few more.

The more variety the better your chances of supplying all the nutrients your tort needs.

Different types of lettuce have different levels of nutrients. Iceberg lettuce has almost no nutritional value. Red leaf, green leaf, and romaine have more, but red and green leaf have more than romaine.

For guidance, check this for whether something is safe to feed, or should only be used sparingly. This list is very conservative...a few of the things they say "no feed" some of us use, like spinach. But until you learn more, you won't go wrong if you follow it.

I hope you find this helpful for when you are dependent on grocery store foods.
 

Yossarian

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They can have it in moderation.

very rarely, they dont really have the right gut microbiome to deal with the sugars so it needs to be minimal and stick to the high fibre low sugar fruits like blueberries, strawberries, and watermelon for example. Grapes are really high in sugar, one of the highest sugar densities of any fruit, thats why it makes good wine. Tomatoes are not the best either but very infrequently they wont hurt.
 

BoredPotato

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When I grocery store shop I buy 5 or 6 different items. Assuming the store has everything, I always buy endive/escarole and radicchio. These are the 2 staples Sulafat eats every day. The other items are combinations of the following...I buy different ones each time. I use mustard greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, watercress, cilantro, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, spring mix occasionally, wheat grass, lamb's lettuce, some romaine in the summer to help hydration...that's all I can think of right now.

Each day I give him some endive/escarole and some radicchio. I add 2 of the other items I bought. Then I give a liberal sprinkling of an amendment or two from Kapidolo Farms, along with calcium, vitamins, or MinerAll on the proper days. About every 2 or 3 days I add a mushy Mazuri pellet or two.
The next day I give 2 or 3 of the other items I bought.

I do it like this because torts can easily become very picky eaters. If I feed his favorites every day for several days or a week, when I offer something else he might turn up his nose at it, and refuse to eat it. I want him to get as many different items as possible.

I also don't want to feed certain foods for an extended stretch because they may have traits that aren't good. For instance, people say no spinach. They say this because it can interfere with calcium use and contribute to kidney stones. So I feed a couple spinach leaves one day, then skip several days before giving him a few more.

The more variety the better your chances of supplying all the nutrients your tort needs.

Different types of lettuce have different levels of nutrients. Iceberg lettuce has almost no nutritional value. Red leaf, green leaf, and romaine have more, but red and green leaf have more than romaine.

For guidance, check this for whether something is safe to feed, or should only be used sparingly. This list is very conservative...a few of the things they say "no feed" some of us use, like spinach. But until you learn more, you won't go wrong if you follow it.

I hope you find this helpful for when you are dependent on grocery store foods.

Ty, but I stick to endive/escarole and a side dish thing what I just said, if my tort truly becomes picky then I will naturally try to rotate between greens more frequently.

Also, just a small question, my tort isn't really active and sometimes he walks for like 20 cm then he immediately stops sitting there for x amount of time. Then he will do the same thing, walks for 20 cm and stops then repeat. (Is this normal?)

For extra information he also tugs his head inside his shell and comes out and then again tugs his head inside his shell, this also will repeat several times, while he is doing that he is also moving his front limbs a little bit (His eyes are open so he isn't sleeping. Idk if this is normal among tortoises or if it's something serious.

He did eat his food this morning
 

BoredPotato

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Ty, but I stick to endive/escarole and a side dish thing what I just said, if my tort truly becomes picky then I will naturally try to rotate between greens more frequently.

Also, just a small question, my tort isn't really active and sometimes he walks for like 20 cm then he immediately stops sitting there for x amount of time. Then he will do the same thing, walks for 20 cm and stops then repeat. (Is this normal?)

For extra information he also tugs his head inside his shell and comes out and then again tugs his head inside his shell, this also will repeat several times, while he is doing that he is also moving his front limbs a little bit (His eyes are open so he isn't sleeping. Idk if this is normal among tortoises or if it's something serious.

He did eat his food this morning

Nvm, I just think it's his thing, he does move and eat like normal. It's just maybe he likes to stand still and ponder over life, I just stay observant for several days and see if something is wrong
 

Jan A

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Nvm, I just think it's his thing, he does move and eat like normal. It's just maybe he likes to stand still and ponder over life, I just stay observant for several days and see if something is wrong
How big is his enclosure & how are temps & humidity? Torts need warm temps (above 85) & to be able to move a lot in order to digest their food. Photos of his enclosure, eating & water bowls, can help experts diagnose if your tort needs something he"s not getting from his environment. And we always like tort photos!!
 

BoredPotato

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How big is his enclosure & how are temps & humidity? Torts need warm temps (above 85) & to be able to move a lot in order to digest their food. Photos of his enclosure, eating & water bowls, can help experts diagnose if your tort needs something he"s not getting from his environment. And we always like tort photos!!

It's a temporary enclosure but it's around 37 to 50 cm, temperature is currently at 25 to 28 degrees, humidity is hovering around 60+ but I already have consulted people in this forum and other sources. It's just my tortoise likes standing still? When I am offering him food he is moving all the time though.
 

BoredPotato

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How big is his enclosure & how are temps & humidity? Torts need warm temps (above 85) & to be able to move a lot in order to digest their food. Photos of his enclosure, eating & water bowls, can help experts diagnose if your tort needs something he"s not getting from his environment. And we always like tort photos!!

NVM, I fixed it, I had always trouble with the bedding, it was way too big for the baby tort of mine (He is named Potato), so I just changed it and he started to move way more than before.
 

Yossarian

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NVM, I fixed it, I had always trouble with the bedding, it was way too big for the baby tort of mine (He is named Potato), so I just changed it and he started to move way more than before.


Would you mind showing us some pics of your tort and his enclosure?
 

BoredPotato

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Would you mind showing us some pics of your tort and his enclosure?

Again, temporary enclosure.

Also, the bedding I use now isnt probably the most ideal for tortoises but the repti bark I used before was simply too huge for Potato to walk

Also not the best pictures, I only have a phone

Oh btw, got him 2 days ago from the person I bought him from, if this info is important. Around 6 months old, he was born in late august.
 

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